Fire-escape.



J. S. KNOWLES.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. a. 1916.

QQQQ

: awvamtoz N/Mums Game/1 4 J. S. KNOWLES.

FIRE ESCAPE. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3.1916.

Patented May 9,1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2 mmw it h

J. S. KNOWLES.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- 3,1916.

Patented May 9,1916.

m C S m JOSEPH S. KNOWLES, OF ATLANTA, ILLINOIS.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

Specification of Letters Iatent.

Patented May 9, 1916.

Application filed January a, 1916. Serial No. 69,856.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH S. KNOWLES, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Atlanta, county of Logan, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes, of

which the following is a full and clear speci-- persons to the ground; Fig. 3 a detail front elevation of a part of the ladder showing a detachable platform connected thereto; Figs.

, 4;, 5 and 6 detail views of the mechanism for raising and lowering the hammock; and

Figs. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 details of other parts of the device hereinafter described.

Referring to the drawings annexed by reference characters, 1 designates a horizontal track which is fastened to the face of the building along the top thereof by means of suitable brackets 2. which are held against the face of the building by long bolts 3 passing through the track-rail and the bracket and also through the wall of the building, the lower end of each bracket being provided with an integral spike 4 adapted for insertion between the bricks of the building.

Adapted to run along the track is a hanger appliance consisting essentially of a pair of hanger irons or rods 5 carrying rollers 6 at the upper ends and being attached at their lower ends to a horizontal bar 7.

The hangers are attached to the bar 7 by PiVo tally hung from bar 7 is a ladder composed of sections 10 which. are detachably connected together end to end by suitable hinges 11. By hinging the sections of the ladder together, the sections may be swung outwardly away from the building far enough to permit them to pass by obstructions such as balconies, sheds, etc. This hinge construction will be especially advantageous for the lower section of the ladder, as that section should be so hung to the upper part-of the ladder that it may be readily swung outwardly and upwardly so as to pass over fences, sheds, etc. By detachably connecting the sections of the ladder, it will be seen that the'ladder may be readily made shorter or longer as the exigencies of the I particular case may require.

The raising and lowering appliance consists of a rather heavy shaft 12 which is adapted to be suspended on the front side of the ladder at any point throughout the length thereof by means of a pair of hooks 13, whose upper ends are adapted to be hung upon one of the rungs of the ladder. Suitable blocks 14: are attached to the shaft 12 at their lower ends to support it slightly away from the face of the ladder. mounted on the shaft 12 is a "drum 15 which is free to rotate in one direction, but is prevented from rotating in the opposite direction by means of a pair of spring pawls 16 mounted on the non-rotative shaft 12 in such position as to normally press into engagement with ratchet-like notches formed in the ends of the drum sleeve 15.

A rope 17 is wound once around the drum and one end of this rope is attached to a hammock 18 or chair or other appliance adapted to support a person or persons. I prefer employing a hammock, as the same may be provided with a-pillow 19 and will,

therefore, be especially adapted for lowering injured persons. I prefer a hammock also because it is readily adapted for use as a stretcher, so that it will not be necessaryto remove an injured person from the hammock after lowering him. The hammock may, of

COIIISr be detachably connected to the lowering rope for this purpose. The other end Rotatively of the rope 17 extends inwardly toward the building and is passed through a brake or retarding device rigidly supported by horizontal arms 20 projecting inwardly from the supporting shaft or bar 12. This brake consists of a grooved plate 21 having upstandtoward the building, so as to be readily ac- I cessible by persons at the adjacent w1ndow of the building, but it will be understood, of

course, that this lever may be controlled by a person standing on the ladder, and 1t Wlll be understood also that the weight of the lever may be suificient in some cases to give the degree of braking action necessary. To prevent the lever 23 from being thrown over far enough to carry the pressure plate 25 out of operative position, I attach to this plate 25 a loop 26. I

To keep the ladder sections a proper distance from the'wall of the building, I provide one or more of the sections 10 with a device such as shown in Figs. 9 and 10. lhis device consists of a suitable pair of brackets 27 fastened in any suitable manner to the inner face of the ladder and projecting toward the building, their inner ends being connected by horizontal bar 28. I jour- ;nal at each end of these bars, on a vertical axis, a rolleror wheel 29 which is adapted to bear against the building and roll alon the face thereof as the ladder is moved bac and forth.

I journal in each of the hanger bars 5 a rock shaft 30 whose inner end is bent upwardly to form a hook 31 which extends up behind the rail 1, and whose outer end .is provided with a weighted arm 32. The

weight normally holds the finger or hook 31 up behind the rail and thereby prevents the hangers from jumping ofi' the track. As the ladder is moved along the rail, the hooks 31 strike against brackets 2 and cause the rock-shaft 30 to rotate far enough to permit the hooks 31 to pass by the-brackets,

and, when the hooks have passed thebrackets, the weighted arms will restore them to normal position.

In Fig. 3 I show a platform 33 which may be removably attached to any one of the ladder sections at any point to enable persons to stand thereon when assisting in the rescue of persons from a burning building. This platform is detachably connected to the ladder by any suitable means, but

preferably by hooks 3 1 and 'a pair of hangers 35 adapted to engage over the rungs of the ladder.

It will be observed that by pulling on the free end of the rope 17 the drum will rotate and the hammock or stretcher will be raised to the desired point. After the person rescued is placed in the hammock,

the hammock may be lowered with any desired speed by paying out the rope and'applying the proper degree of braking action on the rope by means of lever 23. When the loaded stretcher is thus lowered, the drum does not rotate, being held against rotation by the spring pawls 16, so that the retarding action is greatly increased by compelling the rope to slide frictionally around the drum. I have found in practice that by thus locking the drum against rotation while lowering theload and by employing an additional friction clamp, I may lower the heaviest loads with but very little manually-applied friction.

It will be understood that any suitable form of hinged connection may be used between the ladder sections. In Fig. 11 I show one desirable form consisting of a pair of clips connected by a loose link 10 whereby the ladder sections may be folded over upon each other fiatwise, so as to occupy but a small space for convenience of packing and shipping. In Fig. 12, the ladder sections are shown connected together so as to be separated readily, a hook 1O being used for this purpose, this connection being especially desirable for the lowest section of the ladder to permit this section to be removed whenever desired. I

It will be observed that a feature of importance in my invention lies in the idea of mounting on a depending traveling ladder a drum in such manner that the same may be adjusted up and down on the face of the ladder, so that it may be readily positioned properly for making rescues, the drum supporting frame being provided with arms extending inwardly etween the bars of the ladder and being provided with a friction brake, this brake being at the inner ends of the arms so that it may be controlled readily by a person in the building or on the ladder. With an apparatus constructed in this manner, it will be seen that rescues may 'be made at any point on the face of the building, the adjustment being readily accomplished and the descent of the carrier being readily controlled, as stated, by a person either on the ladder or in the building. It is important also that the carrier shall work up and down the front of the ladder, so that while it is being lowered the person or persons on the carrier may steady the carrier by grasping the ladder as the carrier descends.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a fire escape, an overhead track, a traveling ladder depending therefrom, a drum shaft and means for suspending it non-rotatively at various points along the face of the ladder, a drum journaled on this shaft, ratchet devices for preventing the drum rotating in one direction, a cable m unted on said drum and having a dependios ing end connected to a carrier, a manuallycontrolled friction device connected to said shaft through which device the other end of the cable runs, for the purposes herein set Iorth. v

2. In a fire escape, an overhead track, a traveling ladder depending therefrom, a drum shaft and means for suspending it non-rotativcly at various points along the face of the ladder, a drum journaled on this shaft, ratchet devices for preventing the drum rotating in one direction, a cable mounted on said drum and having a depending end connected to a carrier, a frame attached to said shaft and extending in- Wardly between the bars of the ladder and carrier, a friction plate at its inner end, a lever-cperated brake plate mounted at the inner end of said frame the other end of said cable being extended inwardly and passed between said plates, for the purposes herein set forth.

3. The combination with a iadder of a raising and lowering appliance consisting of a bar and means for rnonirtinggit on the "face of the ladder at various points along its length, a drum mounted to rotate on said bar, means being provi ed for preventing the drum rotating in but one direction, a cable wound on said drum and having a depending end connected to a carrier, and a friction brake device carried by said bar adapted to exert a frictional pressure on the free end of said cable.

4:. The combination With a ladder of a raising and lowering appliance consisting of a bar and means for mounting it on the face of the ladder at various points alongits length, a drum mounted to rotate on said bar, means being provided for preventing the drum rotating in but one direction, a cable Wound on said drum and having a depending end connected to a carrier, and a friction brake device carried by said bar adapted to exert a frictional pressure on the free end of said cable, said frictional device being supported on bracket means extending inwardiy between the bars of the ladder and carrying the frictional device at the inner end thereoi said frictionalappliance embodying a manually-operable lever for controlling the friction.

in testimony whereof TL hereunto afiix my signature.

JQSEi FT S. KNUWLES. 

